What’s the Big (Data) Fuss about?

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Recently the Netherlands enforced new laws concerning data protection and data breaches. One year ago the EU published its guidelines on the ‘Right to be Forgotten’, and the cases against Facebook concerning privacy and data seem to be an ongoing event. Amidst all this it is good to take a step back and ask yourself; what is actually going on?

This question was posed at Seats2meet.com as well. In response we have decided to start a series of Q&A sessions with our legal representation and professionals working at S2M Utrecht CS. In order to keep you all in the loop and provide you with some background information, I will write a series of blogs about the various topics. The developments in the data world might either affect your organization directly, indirectly or the topic might just be of personal interest to you. You or your users/clients/members might have questions regarding the way you store your data and the way in which it is used. Throughout the series I will try, whenever possible, to link the issues to Seats2meet.com and Society 3.0 to illustrate the way S2M does it and how certain developments fit within our vision.

There are two main categories: ‘Search engines, third party websites and EU legislation’ and ‘Big data, social media and data breaches’. The first topic concerns the listing and delisting of information and references on search engines such as Google. This has become a hot topic recently with the Google Spain case and the subsequent Right to be Forgotten guidelines. The EU and US approach concerning the issue is very different which has resulted in the EU requiring US firms to locate their data centers in Europe.The issue of data storage is part of the larger discussion concerning data protection. With the increasing popularity of Big Data questions arise concerning the protection, use and, in case of data breaches, the implications. These are the central topics in the second category.

Last but not least; by no means do I consider myself an expert in this field. My interest is purely personal and academic. The issues and sources discussed are mainly European and American and I would really value everyone’s input. So please; ask questions, respond and discuss.

You can find the links to the various blogs here:
Data Blog #1. Getting Drunk and ending up in Paris; The Right to be Forgotten.
Data Blog #2. Censorship or protection? EU and U.S. differences
Data Blog #3.  The story of the NSA, Safe Harbour and Guiness
Data Blog #4. Out with the Old, in with the New
Data Blog #5. Big Data, Small World
Data Blog #6. Data Breaches and Notifications